N02239:15
Christodulus. A good reward of a good servant. Or, The service of a glorious…
Christodulus. A good reward of a good servant. Or, The service of a glorious Christ, justly demanded and commended, from a view of the glory with which it shall be recompensed [sic]. With some commemoration of Mr. Thomas Walter, lately a Pastor to a church in Roxbury: who had an early dismission from what of that service was to be done in this world. Jan. 10. 1724--5. / By Cotton Mather, D.D. and F.R.S. ; [Two lines of quotation in Latin]Christodulus. A good reward of a good servant. Or, The service of a glorious Christ, justly demanded and commended, from a view of the glory with which it shall be recempensed [sic]. With some commemoration of Mr. Thomas Walter, lately a Pastor to a church in Roxbury: who had an early dismission from what of that service was to be done in this world. Jan. 10. 1724--5. / By Cotton Mather, D.D. and F.R.S. ; [Two lines of qutation in Latin]
Boston: printed by T. Fleet for S. Gerrish, 1725
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Letter: To my dear Brother, Mr. NEHEMIAH WALTER, Pastor of the first Church in Roxbury.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
The Son, in whom You have had the uncommon Satisfaction of having him joined with you, in the Pastoral Care of the Church, wherein you had proof of him, that as a Son with a Father, he served with you in the Gospel, must now go from Earth to serve CHRIST in Heaven before You. But as Piety teaches you to be satisfied in this Translation, so you are aware that he goes but a very Little before you: 'Tis much beyond you Expectation, that it is at all before you.
His rare Accomplishments, his acute Penetration, his copious Erudition, with his right Principles, render his Death an unknown Loss to our Churches, as well as to his Parents. His obliging Disposition, and ingenious Conversation, rendered him, the Delicium Humani Generis; Beloved unto ⟨p. iii⟩the Degree, that Seneca affirms of his charming Brother Gallio: But singularly so unto his Parents.
His rare Accomplishments, his acute Penetration, his copious Erudition, with his right Principles, render his Death an unknown Loss to our Churches, as well as to his Parents. His obliging Disposition, and ingenious Conversation, rendred him, the Delicium Humani Generis; Beloved unto ⟨p. iii⟩the Degree, that Seneca affirms of his charming Brother Gallio: But singularly so unto his Parents.
This was he of whom you said, This same shall Comfort us. But our Glorious Lord, by withering such Comforts, effectually leads you to the Only Comforter that can relieve your Soul. May He be Nigh unto you; And unto a Mother, who has a Sword piercing through' her Soul also, and calls herself Marah in the bitter Bereavement— Complexa sui Corpus miserabile Nati. And may He spare you still some Years to a dear Flock; whose importunate Prayers have remarkably kept you out of your Grave; and whose exemplary Bounties have prepared them for such a Mercy as the further Continuance of you to be a Blessing unto them.